Weather with Cliff Mass

10:13 am

Fri October 4, 2013

First Frost Today, But a Sunny Weekend Ahead

Listen here for the extended weekend forecast - as well as Cliff's advice to the perennial question,"Should I buy a ski pass?" And his concerns about the effects of the government shutdown on weather predictions and research.

The first frost of the season hit the northwest Friday morning on both sides of the mountains, but skies will be sunny for much of the weekend.

Enjoy it while it lasts, since it will turn rainy again on Monday, says KPLU weather expert Cliff Mass, a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington.

“We’ll have to get through some low clouds and fog first,” Mass said, “but a ridge of high pressure is building.”

Mass expects the sun to shine on the entire region by mid-afternoon. And it gets better from there.

“I expect Saturday to be generally sunny, maybe a few low clouds in the morning,” he said, adding October is fog season, especially early in the month, but it should burn off.

“Temperatures should get into the mid-upper 60s on Saturday,” he said, “And I expect the same thing to be true on Sunday…sun and maybe some high clouds coming in late Sunday afternoon.”

He predicts more rain and clouds north of Vancouver, though. “So go south for sun,” he said.

On Monday, Mass says a trough of low pressure and an associated front will move in early in the morning.

“So I’d expect Monday to be a very different day: clouds and with some showers,” Mass said, “followed by some lighter showers and considerable cloudiness on Tuesday and Wednesday.”